“For wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I, in their midst” (Matthew 18:20). God is omnipresent, that is, present everywhere, even in the very air that we breathe. And whenever a group gathers to pray or discuss God’s word, the active presence of God can always be taken for granted. 

A praying family stays together, bound by the love of Christ. The home is a family made up of father, mother, and child(ren), and bound together by a common destiny and aspiration. But for it to be a true Christian home, it must be modelled on the Ideal Christian Home of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.

In this regard, the Christian home constitutes the Domestic Church, which is the smallest unit of the Universal Church. The home is the smallest unit of the society; the type of society is determined by the constituent family members. But what, indeed, is a Church? 

A church is not necessarily a physical structure or a designated place for worship. A Church is the meeting of like minds over issues of God and religion, praying and singing to the Lord, worshiping God. It can take place in a purpose-built apartment, an improvised space or in the open air.

What matters is the collective will of the group gathered in one prayerful voice to God Almighty. When Jesus talked about rebuilding the temple in three days, if destroyed, he meant the temple of his body, in much the same way as our bodies must be treated as temples of the Holy Spirit, to keep as clean and as modest as possible. 

For the Domestic Church, the father is the priest or spiritual head, the mother is the assistant, and the children are members of the congregation, regardless of number. The three primary roles of a father are to protect, to provide, and to discipline or upbraid where necessary.

And so, he is the overseer of everything that happens in the home. “Husbands. Love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and handed himself over for her” (Ephesians 5:25). In other words, the role of a husband is to love his wife, even to the point of death.

The husband is the Joseph of the family, providing protection and guidance to the entire family. It is the responsibility of the father of the house to provide the basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing. 

“Wives should be submissive to their husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church. He is the Saviour of his body” (Ephesians 5: 22-23).

The woman, as wife and mother, is the Mary of the family, taking care of the physical needs of members and ensuring their comfort.

As for the children, they are expected to obey their parents and honour them: “Honour your father and your mother. This is the first commandment with a promise: so that it may be well with you, and so that you may have a long life upon the earth” (Ephesians 6:1- 3). 

“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but educate them with the discipline and correction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Children must be Christ-like, obeying their parents and doing their will. And just as Jesus, the child, ultimately outgrew his parents, children are expected to outgrow their parents in due course, both physically and psychologically. 

For an effective domestic Church, all members must know their divinely assigned roles and perform them adequately. According to the documents of the Second Vatican Council, the domestic Church has been so-called because it is the first place where young baptized Christians learn about their faith (Internet Source).

Catechism classes must begin from the domestic Church and continue in the bigger bodies organized by the Church towards the various sacraments of Baptism, First Holy Communion, and Confirmation.

Where there had been an infant baptism, the baptized child should now be subjected to formal catechism classes to enrich their knowledge, and deepen their faith. This is when he should answer for himself all the questions answered on his behalf by his godparents as an infant. 

Common vices such as stealing, telling lies, slander, anger, jealousy, and so forth should be taken care of in the domestic Church before they become habitual. Virtues such as love, faith, hope, generosity, good neighbourliness, should be taught as early as possible in the domestic Church, so that the children learn to grow up in the right spirit and in the fear of the Lord. 

The domestic Church is a home of constant prayers and preaching. The parents must also lead an exemplary life, because examples are better than precepts. A peaceful and loving couple will translate into a peaceful and loving home.

The children should be given the best formal education that the parents can afford, and unhealthy peer influence should be curtailed. Regular communication between the parents, and between parents and children, as well as within the children, must be ensured.

So, there should be the exchange of constant dialogue so that parents get to know the thinking of their children, while children develop trust and confidence in their parents. 

The domestic Church is crucial for the success of the bigger Church because the latter draws its parishioners from the former, and the family constitutes the building blocks for the entire society.

In the final analysis, happy and peaceful families will ultimately translate into a happy and peaceful world.